Special to the Times Vedette
Whiterock Conservancy welcomes Dr. Kata McCarville for SOILS, the final program of a three-part series at the Bur Oak Visitor Center on Sept. 14 from 2-3 p.m.
Healthy soil supports Iowa’s agricultural economy, regulates water supplies and protects water quality. Learn about Iowa’s amazing soils, and build a fun (and edible) model of soil horizons.
Dr. McCarville got started with Iowa geology in 2005 when she joined the faculty at Upper Iowa University in Fayette. Born at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, she is a river rat. She has spent time on and along many Iowa rivers, as well as the Colorado, Green, Platte, Snake and Mississippi. Dr. McCarville is currently the associate professor of geology at Minot State University along with continuing her work at Iowa Lakeside Lab.
Dr. McCarville has roots in the Midwest but grew up in California. She studied geology at UCLA as an undergraduate and worked as a uranium miner in Wyoming after graduation. She completed a master’s degree in geology at Colorado School of Mines, working on uranium deposits in the Red Desert basin of Wyoming, and then worked for a number of years in computing and networking at universities and for engineering consulting firms. As a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow, she did her doctoral work in avian paleontology of Fossil Lake, Oregon, at the South Dakota School of Mines. Her work resulted in an innovative interpretation for the locality as a volcanic maar.
Dr. McCarville’s interests span the earth and environmental sciences and often cross disciplinary boundaries. Her current research centers on the origins of the Iowan Erosion Surface, soil health and soil organisms, and the role of disturbance in prairie ecosystems.
This program is free and open to the public. Call the Whiterock Conservancy office at 712-790-8221 x2 or email guestinfo@whiterockconservancy.org with questions or for more information.
Whiterock Conservancy is located at 1436 Highway 141 in Coon Rapids.